


One Messed Up Family

by Etsu_Nara



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Gen, Multi, Rebuilding bonds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9617651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etsu_Nara/pseuds/Etsu_Nara
Summary: Kisame Hosigaki has a daughter, Kiriko Ashikara, that he rarely talks about. He left her when she was five. All she holds of him now is a few memories and a heart full of hate.Itachi has a sister, Nikko Uchiha, who he couldn't bring himself to kill. He erased her memory, leaving her in a village far from Konoha, so she would be safe.Pain knows about them, and sends two teams to retrieve them for his own hidden reasons. What happens when daughter and father are reunited? Memories of a life past begin to haunt Nikko, how long will the truth stay hidden from her?*IMPORTANT UPDAYE* my computer is currently broken so I have no way to write anything, and will not be able to update until further notice. I'm deeply sorry.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that I've worked on, my friend took over, and then I re-claimed. Hopefully, third time's the charm. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own Kiriko, and my friend annarobszombies owns Nikko.

# Chapter One

Hana Ashikara sat in her kitchen, watching her eighteen year old daughter training outside.

She’s always training, Hana thought to herself. My little Kiriko.

She took after her father, Kisame Hoshigaki. With white, beady eyes, and deep blue hair, hers falling to the middle of her back, always in a ponytail. Just like her father, she was tall, taller than anyone in the town they lived in, standing at six feet and two inches. The one thing she got from her mother, besides her beautiful face, was her naturally pale skin. Even though she was always outside training, she never tanned.

Kiriko grew up almost without a father. He was part of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist since she was born, and when Kirigakure had ordered their execution, he left to join Akatsuki. Kiriko was only five, and she only had a couple memories of him, but it didn’t seem to bother her.

Hana and Kiriko lived a simple life, in a small village on the very south east tip of the Fire Country, having fled Kirigakure, and the Water Country, after Kisame left for Akatsuki. Hana was afraid that ninja might come after them, to use as leverage against Kisame. Kiriko didn’t have a ninja academy to train at, or a ninja village to serve, but she still trained, and she was just as good as the next ninja. Well, the rookie ones. She did a pretty good job of keeping bandits out of the village, at any rate. No one of consequence cared much about such a small village.

After a couple of hours of training, she came inside.

“I made some onigiri* for lunch, Kiriko,” Hana said.

“Thanks, mom,” Kiriko said with a bright, pearly white smile, sitting down at the table to eat the onigiri, running the back of her hand across her forehead to wipe sweat away. Hana had made her favorites: one onigiri with cut up raw salmon, one with tuna and mayo, and one just plain and salted.

Just as Kiriko was about to take a bite, there was a large crash outside. Immediately, Kiriko was up, onigiri forgotten, and running outside, her katana in hand. Hana looked out the window, seeing two men coming from the main square of the village, where she could see buildings caught on fire. One was tall, with a mask covering his mouth and nose, and the other was shorter with silvery hair, but that was all Hana could see from her vantage. That, and their black cloaks with red clouds bordered in white.

What could the Akatsuki possibly want here?

Kiriko took a ready position, and shouted, “What the hell are the Akatsuki doing here? We haven’t done anything, and we’re certainly not harboring any jinchuuriki.”

“If you were, your piece of shit village would have been wiped out years ago,” the silver-haired man said.

“Then I ask again, what the hell are you doing here?”

“We have a package to pick up,” the silver-haired man said with a grin, charging at Kiriko.

He was quick, but so was she. She jumped to the side, the man’s scythe just missing her.

I can’t take on Akatsuki members, Kiriko thought to herself, as she dodged strike after strike. Damn, I can’t even land a hit.

She did a couple of flips, jumping back and out of range of the man’s tri-bladed scythe – or so she thought. Evidently, the scythe could extend. The top most blade was mere inches from her face when Kiriko’s feet hit the ground after her flip. Acting on pure instinct, the blue hair girl, ducked down and rolled to the side.

She was feeling pretty proud of herself, especially when the man placed his scythe in some sort of holster on his back. Her pride was cut short when, at lighting fast speed, he sent two kunai at her arms, causing her to drop her katana and let out a cry of pain. She stumbled back from the blow of the knives, and felt something wrap around her, pinning her arms to her side. She thought it was the other guy, but arms hadn’t grabbed her, and when she looked back, he was standing behind his partner. It wasn’t until then that she noticed there were thick treads, almost like ropes, coming from his cloak and wrapping around her. She struggled to break free, but the bindings only got tighter.

“By the way,” the silver-haired man said. “You’re the ‘package’ we’re getting. And, you can’t have any ties here.” She wasn’t sure what he meant, or why he was going into her house, but when she heard a scream, she started to shout.

“No! Leave my mom alone! Let her go!” She cried, pulling as hard as she could at the threads around her, but they were too thick. The other man threw Hana at her feet, and she looked up at her daughter, terrified. The man took out his scythe, and Kiriko thought he was going to behead her mom then and there, and she continued to shout at him to stop, but all he did was swipe at her face, drawing a little blood. He then proceeded to draw some sort of symbol in the ground.

Then the strangest thing happened. The man licked the scythe. Stranger still, his whole body began to transform, turning black and almost skeletal-like. Kiriko’s eyes widened, and her mother began to scream and beg for mercy.

The man sliced at his right arm, and the same wound appeared on Hana’s arm. She screamed.

“Stop it! Please, don’t hurt her!” Kiriko cried.

“Shut up,” the man holding Kiriko said, pulling her closer to him, and clamping his hand on her mouth. She struggled none the less. “We don’t have time for this, do you really have to go through the whole ceremony?”

“I can’t displace Lord Jashin,” the silver haired man said.

He continued to torture Hana until both she and Kiriko were sobbing. Then, and only then, did he replace his scythe on his back. He pulled out a black stick, which extended into a sharp point with a flick of his wrist, and, in one smooth movement, stabbed his heart, killing Kiriko’s mother.

“What the hell are you, you bastard? That should have killed you too!” Kiriko shouted through sobs.

“Can you shut the bitch up already?” The silver-haired man complained. 

The man holding Kiriko complied, whacking her across the back of the head, and the last thing Kiriko saw as she passed out was her mom, her once sky blue eyes now glassy, dead and lifeless, surrounded by a pool of her own blood.

#### Meanwhile, not far from Kiriko

“Nikko!” Takashi Uzimo called after his foster sister. It was obvious they weren’t related. While he had grey eyes, red hair, and tanned skin, Nikko had long black hair, almost to her waist, black eyes, and pale skin. She was two inches taller than her brother, standing at five feet four inches. She teased him a lot on his height, but always good naturedly.

They lived in a small village with Takashi’s parents, Nikko’s foster parents. There was also no ninja academy here, or ninja village to go to, so all the skills Nikko had were from sparring with Takashi.

“Catch me if you can, Takashi!” Nikko called, as she darted between trees, her foster brother struggling to keep up.

Even though they weren’t related by blood, the two kids couldn’t be any closer. Takashi was seventeen, and Nikko was only a year younger than him. He was actually the one to find Nikko, asleep on a bench in the park when she was eight, and his parents took her in. She had no memory of where she had come from, or even her last name. All she knew was that her first name was Nikko. Her foster parent had raised her as if she was one of their own.

Nikko stopped running in a clearing, panting and out of breath, and Takashi was there with her in a matter of seconds, tackling her to the ground. “Gotcha! Next time, don’t catch your breath in the open, silly.”

Their wrestling match came to an abrupt halt when there was a loud explosion behind them.

Nikko and Takashi exchanged a confused and worried look, and were running through the trees back to where they came from – where their house was.

They didn’t talk, but they were both thinking the same thing: what the hell was that?

They finally made it back their house, only to find it on fire, their mother and father running outside.

“Nikko! Takashi!” Their mom called.

“Mom, dad, what’s going on?” Takashi asked.

“I’m not sure, I think someone dropped a bomb on the house,” their mom said, shaking from the excitement.

They stared on in awe, while Nikko looked around for the source of the bomb.

“Behind you, un,” someone said, and Nikko turned around to see a man with long blonde hair pulled up in a partial ponytail, with his bangs covering his left eye, and he had a black cloak with red clouds on it.

That means he’s Akatsuki, right? Nikko thought to herself.

Before she knew what was happening, the blonde man sent a powerful kick aimed at her side, sending her flying into a tree. Her head slammed into the wood, and she felt some blood run down the side of her head. She lay dazed for a few moment before she managed to shakily get up. As she was standing, and getting ready to fight, something grabbed her from behind. She twisted around to see a man, half black half white with a large Venus flytrap around his head, in the tree, holding her back. As she struggled to break free, her attention returned to the blonde man, who was kicking Takashi across the yard.

For a brief second, Nikko wasn’t in that yard. It was dark, and she was on a street with buildings on both sides, and someone – someone she knew, maybe? – had been kicked, and was flying past her.

But that lasted for a mere second, and she was back with her foster family. Where the blonde man was throwing little birds of clay at Takashi. Little birds of clay that were apparently bombs. The explosions were small, but it was enough to send him flying.

“Takashi!” Nikko cried, as blood slowly seeped from small cuts on his arms and face.

She had more flashes of a night she didn’t remember, blood splattered everywhere.

Back with her foster family, Takashi was being blown across the yard by little of explosions, and it was apparent they were taking their toll on him.

Nikko couldn’t see clearly. Tears were streaming from her eyes, blurring the scene before her as she watched the blond man slaughter her family, with flashes of a mysterious night mixing with the present.

When her family was dead, laying together in the middle of the yard with burns from the bombs and cuts from the impacts, the man in the tree let her go, and she was whimpering, “Why are you doing this? We didn’t do anything.” She couldn’t seem to stop sobbing. 

“Shut up already, un,” the blond said, grabbing Nikko by her shirt and slamming her against a tree. She felt a sharp pain next to a bump that had formed the first time she hit her head, and then she blacked out.

“Let’s go, Zetsu, un,” he said.

“Yes.” the plant man melted into the tree and disappeared.

#### Amegakure

“What do you mean, you sent Hidan and Kakuzu to collect my daughter?” Kisame Hoshigaki grumbled, glaring at the man hidden in shadows before him, the only thing visible where his strange grey eyes, with purple rings around the pupils.

Itachi Uchiha, as always, stayed silent.

“I’m telling you this so you don’t freak out when you see her here, Kisame,” Pein said. “And you when you see your sister, Itachi.”

“Why are you bringing them here?” Itachi asked calmly.

“I have my reasons,” Pein said. “All you two need to know is that you’ll be training them, and they will stay here as our… guests.”

“Anything else you need to tell us?” Kisame growled.

“No, you are dismissed.” Pein said.

Kisame turned on his heal and marched out, clearly in a bad mood.

Itachi stood. “Excuse the behavior of my partner, Pein-sama.” He bowed, and left the room after Kisame.

“What gives him the right to do this?” Kisame was grumbling.

“Calm down, Kisame,” Itachi said. “At least your daughter will remember you.”

“Yeah, sure, barely,” Kisame said. “She was five when I left. She probably hates me. It’s probably best that your sister won’t remember anything.”

“Yes,” Itachi said speculatively. “But I wonder how long that will last.”  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a side note, Kiriko means "mist child" and Nikko means "sunlight" (both from Japanese).
> 
> Disclaimer: I own Kiriko and my friend Anna (annarobszombies) owns Nikko. I do not own "Naruto".

# Chapter Two

#### Kiriko’s POV

I woke up with a throbbing head, in a strange bed, in a strange room, and no idea as to what was going on. I groaned and sat up, holding my head. There was a dim overhead light, casting most of the room into shadows. To my left was a closet and a desk with a simple lamp on it. To my right there was a bedside table, and next to that was another bed. With a girl on it.

“Hey,” I whispered. “Hey, wake up!”

There was a groan, but nothing else.

“Fine, whatever,” I muttered. I got out of bed, still dressed in regular clothes. “Ugh, what happened? Why did I fall asleep in my clothes?” I walked over to my closet to see what was in there. Besides a full-length mirror on the back wall and my katana leaning against the back corner, the closet was empty. I looked myself up and down in the mirror, finding small splatters of blood on my arms and my chin. Hardly noticeable, but it was enough to refresh my memory.

“Mom…” I whispered. My hand shot up and covered my mouth, and I felt slightly nauseous. I swallowed my horror and fear and grabbed my katana, slinging the strap over my shoulder. I looked around the room and found a door. Without thinking, I hurried out.

Even though I knew my mother was dead, I still felt the need to look for her. Maybe she wasn’t actually dead, maybe she just looked dead, a small part of my brain dared to hope. Anything could have happened after they knocked me out.

I carefully walked down the dark, quiet hallways of stone, past more doors than I cared on the left and right. Every few feat there was a dim light, always on the right side of the hallway. I was beginning to think the place was deserted, until I saw a light, brighter than the sparse lights on the walls, coming out of a door-less room on the left side of the hall. I could hear whispered voices talking. I couldn’t make out what they were saying completely, just bits and pieces.

“… they’ll hate us…” said a gruff voice. It sounded vaguely familiar, like a voice from far back in my past, but I couldn’t put a name to it.

“… presume… worry…” the second voice was quieter, and I only caught a couple words. His voice seemed deeper, I thought, but, again, it was hard to hear.

I dared a peak around the corner. They were in a medium sized kitchen, standing by the table in the middle, both wore the Akatsuki cloaks, and had their backs to me. The shorter man had black hair that disappeared into his cloak, but that was all I could see of him. The other, taller man, had dark blue hair, but that was also all I could see of him.

I pulled back around the corner, and plastered myself to the wall, fighting the rising hysterics.

Akatsuki really had kidnapped me. But why? I wasn’t a jinchuuriki. I didn’t know any jinchuuriki. They shouldn’t have any interest in me.

“Who said you could leave your room?” A voice whispered in my ear. A squeal escaped my mouth before I could stop it, and I looked over to see who was there.

It was the silver-haired man. “You,” I breathed, backing away from him, and consequently in front of the kitchen entrance, which was temporarily forgotten. I drew my katana, and held it in front of me with shaking hands.

“You saw me in action, and you still think that little thing is gonna save your sorry ass? You’re as dumb as you look, bitch,” he laughed. I glared. As I was backing up, I bumped into something – or someone, I saw when I looked up. 

It was the blue-haired man, he was only a couple of inches taller than me, and he had a blue tint to his skin. I noticed along with the same hair color, we had the same eye color.

“No. No, no, no, no,” I shook my head frantically, backing away from him, too. “This isn’t possible.”

“Kiriko, please-” the blue-haired man started.

“How do you know my name?” I demanded, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer. I continued without waiting for his response. “Why am I here? Where’s my mom?” I hadn’t realized I had been shouting, until I noticed the crowd had grown, most of the men looked grumpy, as if my shouting had woken them up.

“I can’t say why your here, but your mom… she’s…” the blue-haired man trailed off, looking at the silver-haired man.

“I killed the bitch,” he said, and moved closer so his face was right in front of mine, and added, “And I fucking liked it.”

Without thinking, I slapped his face away from me.

“Bitch! What the fuck?” He yelled, and grabbed my neck, holding me up.

“Let me go!” I rasped, trying to breath, and clawing wildly at his hands.

“Let her go, Hidan,” the blue-haired man said. He grabbed the silver-haired man’s – Hidan, I guess – hand and wrenched it off of my throat, and I landed with a thud on my butt.

“I suggest everyone returns to their rooms,” the shorter man with black hair and red eyes – the one standing in the kitchen with the blue-haired man – said, in a quiet, cool tone before Hidan could retaliate. Even I could hear the threat behind his quite voice, and it sent a shiver down my back. “Now.”

After a moment, the crowd dispersed, leaving me alone with the two strange men, the taller one strangely familiar, and, I noticed, the girl who was in the bed next to mine.

“Nikko…” the black haired man said, no emotion on his face.

“H-how do you know my name?” She squeaked out.

Not missing a beat, he said, “There isn’t much that goes on in this organization that I don’t know.”

“Where are we?” The girl, Nikko, asked. She looked suspiciously like the black-haired man, except she had black eyes, while his eyes were still red.

That’s the sharingan, I thought to myself. Which makes him Itachi Uchiha.

“We’re in the Akatsuki base, aren’t we?” I asked. “Those cloaks mean you’re part of the Akatsuki organization.”

“Smart kid,” the blue haired man said with a grin. “Kiriko, there’s something you should know. I don’t know if you remember or not, but… I’m-”

“You’re my… dad…” I whispered, unable to ignore the signs in front of me any longer. I looked to the ground, and said, “Why?”

“Why… what?” He asked.

I took a deep breath, gave him the coldest glare I could manage, and asked, “Why did you leave me and mom? Why’d you join this stupid organization? If you had never left, never joined, mom would still be alive!” The volume of my voice grew with each question until I was shouting, and I was sure the whole base could hear me.

Kisame stared at me, mouth gaping, clearly at a loss for words. I knew I wouldn’t get an answer so I stormed away, back to the room I woke up in.

I flung myself onto the bed, glaring at the ceiling, a sea of anger raging inside me.

I wanted my home back, but more than that, I just wanted my mom.

My mom had always been there for me, and I had always been there for her. We were a team, and while she had never been the same after Kisame Hoshigaki left us, forcing us to flea Kirigakure and the water country, she had always done her best to make sure I was happy, and I tried to do the same for her. She was my rock.

Not long after, the door opened and closed, and someone (I assumed the girl from earlier) flopped down on the other bed.

I looked over. “Your name is Nikko, right?”

“Yeah, Nikko Uzimo,” she said.

“I’m Kiriko Ashikara,” I said.

“That blue man… that’s your dad?” She asked.

“Yeah, Kisame Hoshigaki,” I told her.

“But then why is your last name Ashikara?” She asked.

It was an innocent enough question, but it was one that really ticked me off. “Because he skipped town when I was five,” I snapped. “Making my mom and me run from Kirigakure, if you must know.”

“Sorry, it was just a question,” Nikko said.

“How would you like a stranger making assumptions about you?”

“Well, you don’t need to be a bitch about it,” Nikko replied. “We’re in the same situation here.”

“So what’s your story?” I asked.

“I don’t know my real parents, I lived with my foster family for as long as I can remember. Then… the Akatsuki showed up. They murdered them… right in front of me. You seemed to know about the organization, do you know who all the members are?”

“Not all of them,” I said. “The man with Kisame was Itachi Uchiha. The only reason I know about him is because he murdered his whole clan. Except his younger brother. I guess even mass murderers have a soft spot for kids.”

Nikko stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“You say that so… calmly,” she said.

“Welcome to the ninja world, people live, people fight, and people are killed,” I said.

“The man with the black hair, Itachi, after you left he told me that we were honored guests here,” Nikko said after a moment of awkward silence. 

I scoffed. “Bullshit. We’re prisoners, don’t kid yourself.”

“But-”

“Look, kid,” I said, swinging off my bed, and getting up in her face. “Do you think they would have killed our families if we were guests here? Killed them right in front of us?”

“Well, no, but-” she started.

“I’ll help you get out of here, if you want, but after that, you’ll be on your own,” I said. I turned and marched to my bed. “Good night.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was a late update. I am trying to update weekly, but my parents just got here, so I've been focusing on traveling and spending time with them. I do have the next few chapters written, so I'll try to post next Wednesday, but, to be honest, I'm not even sure if I'll have WiFi. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own Kiriko, my friend annarobszombies owns Nikko, all other rights belong to Masashi Kishimot.

# Chapter Three

#### Nikko’s POV:

I ran through the dark alleyways and streets. Everyone told me to run, and I did, but I could hear the screams behind me; their pleas for mercy, but the attacker didn’t seem to care.

“Mama! Daddy!” I cried, but no one answered. I turned down another alley, but froze there. The walls of the building were splattered with blood.

I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I collapsed on the ground, sobbing.

Just then, a pillow smacked my head. It didn’t hurt, but it certainly woke me up. “What the hell?” I exclaimed to no one in particular, bolting upright in bed. 

“Quit crying, you woke me up,” Kiriko said angrily.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

I rubbed sleep from my eyes, and looked over at Kiriko who had just picked up a book and was reading in on her bed. Where she got the book, I wasn’t sure.

“Itachi told me yesterday that he was going to train me,” I said. She didn’t look up, didn’t even move. “And your dad is going to train you.”

“Hell can freeze over before Kisame trains me.” She continued to read her book while she spoke, completely un-phased.

“But he’s your dad,” I countered. “Kiriko, you can’t just ignore him.”

She slammed her book shut. “Would you shut the hell up? Don’t tell me what to do, and if Kisame Hoshigaki really was my dad, he wouldn’t have left, would he?” I was completely speechless. “Go train with Itachi if you want, but I’m not leaving my room.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but changed my mind. I was too tired – and too worried about that nightmare – to argue with this girl.

As I stepped out of the room, I wondered if she actually had a problem with me, or if this was just her defense mechanism. I tried to shrug it off as I walked down the hall.

Stepping into the kitchen, I found Itachi and Kisame sitting at the table.

They both looked up, and Kisame asked, “Where’s Kiriko?”

I debated on telling him exactly what she said, but decided to just say, “She decided to not come.”

“I’ll go talk to her, I don’t think Pein-sama would be okay with that,” Kisame said, getting up and leaving.

I looked at Itachi, and he stood up. “Come, Nikko. Let’s train.” He walked out of the kitchen, and I had to hurry to keep up with his long strides.

He led me out to a clearing in the woods, and turned to face me. “I can presume you know nothing about chakra, correct?”

“Of course I know… chakra?” I said.

His face remained blank, but he nodded. “Right. Chakra is the combination of physical and mental energies.”

“Okay, so brains and brawns , got it,” I said.

“Sort of. Mental energy isn’t just being smart. Yes, you need to know things, but you also need to have spiritual focus,” he said.

“Spiritual focus?” I asked.

“It’s a little difficult to explain. It’ll make more sense if we just do it.” He sat down on the ground, Indian style, and nodded for me to do the same. I complied and he said, “Now, close your eyes.”

“Okay,” I complied. He was silent. After a moment, I asked, “Now what?”

“Now we sit.”

I swear, it felt like five days had passed when he finally said, “You’re not focusing.”

“Focusing? Focusing on what? You didn’t tell me to focus!” I cried in exasperation.

“Focus on your breathing, keep your mind blank,” he said. “This helps calm you, and clear your mind. It’s good for building mental energy. It’s also good for making you more focused when you study jutsu, and other knowledge that will improve your mental energy. Often, this is what shinobi lack when they build their chakra, which makes it difficult to perform higher level jutsu.”

“You keep talking about jutsu, but I’m not even entirely sure what that is,” I complained.

“I’ll tell you later. For now, focus on meditating.” I got nothing more from Itachi after that, so I tried my best to clear my mind and focus on breathing. This was so hard.

Finally, after hours, Itachi told me I could stand. My legs were cramped and sore from sitting.

“Now what?” I asked.

“Now I test your physical strength. Ready yourself,” he said.

“What?” I asked, but he had disappeared. “Wait!” I looked around frantically, and I could have sworn I heard him laughing in the trees, but that was probably just the paranoia.

The bodiless voice of Itachi said, “Focus your mind, try and feel my energy. This is how shinobi try and track their opponents.”

“But I’m not a shinobi,” I mumbled. None the less, I tried to sense him, to no avail. But I did hear him when the wind stirred around me and he appeared behind me. I spun around just in time to duck bellow his kunai. “What the hell? Are you trying to kill me?”

“I’m testing you,” he replied. He flung the kunai at me, and I ducked, only to stand up to his leg flying at me. This time, I wasn’t fast enough. His leg connected painfully with my side, sending me flying.

I groaned as I stood up, rubbing my side, and my head where it hit the ground. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s not meant to be,” he said. “It’s training. Learn from your mistakes. Act quickly, react to what’s around you, think as little as possible.”

“That sounds… barbaric,” I commented.

“We’re soldiers, trained to fight, to kill,” Itachi said.

“What if I don’t want that?” I asked.

“You can decide for yourself, but I’ve been instructed to train you. So, train you I will,” he replied.

“Why you?” I asked.

“Hm?”

“Well, I figure Kisame is supposed to train Kiriko because she’s his daughter, but why were you told to train me, why not someone else?” I clarified.

He hesitated a moment, thinking, so I assumed. “I’m the least… angry. I won’t maim or hurt you if you mess up, like the others might.”

“Uh, you hurt me when you kicked me,” I pointed out.

“Yes, but that’s part of training. I’m talking about unnecessary torture,” he explained.

“Oh, that’s a… pleasant thought,” I said, a little scared.

“Now, let’s try this again,” Itachi said, getting us back on track of training.

He disappeared again, and had me try and sense him, over and over again.

We did this for nearly five hours, and near the end of the day, I was starting to get the hang of the training. Sort of.

When I finally got back to my room after dinner, and flopped down on the bed, my whole body was aching. Itachi had warned me that however sore I was today, it would be ten times worse tomorrow.

Great.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a tad late. My parents were still visiting on Wednesday, and that was when we were traveling from Nagoya to Kyoto (brief stop there while I grabbed stuff from my dorm) and then to Osaka. It was my last full day with my parents so I kind of forgot to post. At any rate, enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own Kiriko, my friend anarobszombies owns Nikko. All other rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

# Chapter Four

#### Kiriko’s POV

After Nikko left, I opened up my book and continued reading until there was a knock on the door. I ignored it. I was pretty sure it was Kisame, and I didn’t want to talk to him. Hell, I didn’t want to see him.

“Kiriko, I know you’re in there,” he said. I didn’t respond. After a moment, he said, “Can I come in?”

“No,” I said flatly.

I heard a sigh. “Well, I’m coming in anyways.”

“I said-” I started, but the door was already opened, and my fish-faced father was walking.

“I don’t really care,” he snapped at me. “Pein-sama wants to see us.”

“Who?” I asked, not looking up from my book.

“The leader,” Kisame said.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“You have to,” he said. “You don’t want to face Pein-sama’s wrath if you don’t come with me.”

“Will he kill me? Because that would be a lot more welcome than being the Akatsuki’s prisoner,” I said.

“You’re our guest, Kiriko,” Kisame said.

“Bullshit,” I said.

Kisame sighed. “Listen, kid, why would Pein-sama send people after you just to kill you as soon as you got here? So you’re coming up to see him with me even if I have to drag you there. Got it?”

I sighed. I definitely didn’t want to be dragged. “Fine.” I slammed my book shut, and followed Kisame down the hall (to the left, the opposite direction I went last time I left my room). We went up a set of stairs, a total of three flights in all. We reached a hall, with only one door at the end of it, and Kisame knocked when we approached it.

“Enter,” a calm, monotonous voice called.

“Pein-sama,” Kisame said, walking in with me following. “I brought her.”

“Good,” he said, looking up at me. His voice was cold, void of emotion, yet it still managed to send a shiver down my back. He had weird eyes, a purple-ish color, with a bunch of rings around his pupils. I had to admit, it kinda freaked me out, but I couldn’t let that get to me. Actually, everything about him freaked me out. His eyes, his voice, the way the light hit him, putting his whole body in shadows except his eyes. “Now, what’s this about not wanting to train? I thought you wanted to be a ninja.”

“What the hell do you know about me?” I asked, and I could feel Kisame stiffen beside me at my blatant disrespect. “Maybe I do want to be trained as a ninja, but not by him. Let anyone else train me, but not him.”

“Anyone?” He asked.

“Anyone.”

“Fine. Hidan will train you.”

My eyes widened in a mix of surprise, fear, and horror. “But- I mean, I don’t-” I stuttered.

“You said anyone, didn’t you? I will allow you this one chance to take that back, but you will have to train with Kisame then.”

I hesitated. If I trained with Kisame, it would hurt my pride, especially after all the fight I had put up to not train with him. If I trained with Hidan, I would physically be hurt. In the end, my pride won. “Fine. I’ll train with Hidan.”

“Uh, Pein-sama,” Kisame said, stepping forward. “Is this really a good idea? Will Hidan even do it?”

“It’s my order, of course he will.” Pein looked between me and Kisame, and then said, “That is all. Dismissed.”

I followed Kisame out. “Why does he get to boss me around?” I asked loudly as the door closed behind me, and I really hoped he had heard.

“Because he could snap your neck in a heartbeat, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it,” Kisame said.

“Oh, kinda like you did nothing about Hidan slaughtering mom,” I said sarcastically.

“What am I supposed to do about it?” Kisame asked. “He’s immortal.”

“Beat the shit out of him? I don’t know, do something, though!” I cried. “If you loved her, you would have done something.”

Kisame sighed, and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take that as him not loving mom or him not wanting to argue with me.

“Whatever,” I said. I marched up ahead of him, in search of Hidan, though I wasn’t sure where I’d find him. I didn’t feel like knocking on all the doors, so I walked to the kitchen, where, coincidentally, he was just leaving. We bumped into each other, and he nearly spilled his bowl of udon on me. Lucky for him, I was quick enough to dodge.

“Watch where you’re fucking going, bitch,” he said.

“You watch where you’re going, bitch,” I countered. He was about to rebuke, so I quickly added, “Pein wants you to train me.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?” He asked, my insult momentarily forgotten.

“Because he told you to?” I suggested. “Look, you don’t have to do much, I just need to learn about chakra and how to, well, use it. I can do the rest myself.”

“Fuck that,” he said. He was walking away, to his room, I assumed.

I really wanted to train, so I decided to taunt him. “Too bad, you missed a perfectly good chance to beat me up. But I guess it doesn’t matter, you couldn’t land a lot of hits on me when we last fought, so I guess you’re just not that good. I mean, if you can’t even hit a beginner like me…” I trailed off. I was facing away from him, but I knew he was frozen where he was.

“Are you calling me weak, bitch?” He asked.

“I don’t know, am I?” I asked.

He was silent for a moment, then I heard his bowl clatter to the ground, udon forgotten. I smiled to myself, knowing I had won. What I wasn’t expecting was him to grab my arm and literally drag me to… well, I wasn’t sure where.

We ended up in an indoor training room. Hidan jerked my arm, causing me to stumble forward.

“You want me to train you, bitch? Fine, I’ll train you, but you’ll regret asking for this,” he said. Before I knew what was happening, he had grabbed the neckline of my shirt and tossed me at a wall. My back slammed against the wall, and I fell to the ground in a heap, wind knocked out of me. Before I could even begin to catch my breath, Hidan picked and threw me against another wall. This continued a few more times before I knew I had to get my act together, or Hidan might literally beat me to death.

I saw his shadow approaching me, and some primal instinct in my told me to roll or die. So I rolled out of his reach, still trying to catch my breath. I managed to stand, taking a very weak, pathetic looking fighting stance as I struggled to breathe properly, and was sent into a fit of coughs.

“What the hell kind of training is this?” I demanded.

“My fucking kind, bitch,” Hidan growled, stalking towards me. “You wanted me to train you.”

“I said Pein wanted you to train me, I was just passing along the message,” I said, backing up as he approached. I had finally caught my breath, and I was trying to put together a plan to take care of Hidan.

“Doesn’t matter much anymore,” Hidan said. “This is my training method. Take it or leave it.” He was right in front of me now, and looking up at me, which was quite a comical sight, I must say.

I cracked a grin. “You know, I’m starting to think you’re not that scary, shortie.”

His face twitched, and he grabbed my wrist, attempting to throw me, so I assumed. But I was ready this time. I twisted my wrist, while pushing his chest with my foot. I felt time slow down briefly as my base foot pivoted, and my hips thrusted forward sending my kick with them right into his chest. Time sped up then, and he let go of my wrist while flying backwards.

“I’m calling an end to training,” I said, turning on my heel and walking out of the training room. Actually, I ran out of that room. I wanted to get away from Hidan before he could stop me from leaving. I was so focused on getting away that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and I ran into the first room I found, which happened to be a huge library.

S-class criminals have a library, apparently, I mused to myself. 

I walked through the isles, looking at the books, and finally found one on chakra.

Well, I guess I will have to teach myself, I thought, settling on the ground to read.

I can’t say how long I was there, but I was almost done reading when someone came into the library, calling for me.

“Kiriko!” The voice called, and I recognized it as Kisame’s.

I quietly shut the book and put it back on the shelf just as he came around the corner. “What?” I asked.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said.

“Why? You didn’t seem to care all those years after you left,” I said.

“Not this again,” Kisame grumbled, running a hand through spiked, dark blue hair. “I just came to find you to tell you dinner is ready. I don’t care if you don’t want to, everyone’s going to be there, so this is the perfect time to meet every – are those bruises on your arm?”

“Never mind those, let’s just get dinner,” I insisted, storming off, but stopping at the library door, since I wasn’t really sure where to go.

“What’s wrong? Afraid to get lost?” Kisame asked.

“Not at all, I didn’t want you to get lost, but now that you’re here, you can lead on,” I said.

He chuckled, but said no more and led me to the dining room, which was also in the kitchen. I saw Hidan and his partner sitting together at one end, across from four empty seats (two were for me and Kisame, and I figured the other two were for Nikko and Itachi). I sat down next to Kisame, as far from Hidan as I could. Moments later Itachi came in with Nikko following behind him, looking rather shy.

Ugh, she could at least try to put a brave face on, I thought to myself. I tried not to roll my eyes as she sat down next to me, with Itachi on her other side.

“Alright, introductions,” Kisame said. “Kiriko, this is Deidara, Tobi, Hidan, Kakuzu, and Zetsu. Everyone, this is my daughter Kiriko.”

“You’re no father of mine,” I grumbled crossing my arms and scowling at the table.

“Well, I certainly see the fucking resemblance,” Hidan said. “Both looks and personality.”

“Everyone, this is Nikko Uzimo,” Itachi said.

“What’s her relation with you, un?” The blond man who looked like a girl – Deidara – asked. 

“None,” Itachi replied. “Pein-sama wanted her here. I don’t question his decisions.” Itachi’s tone indicated the end of that conversation, so we all began to eat.

Everyone except me, that is. I was watching everyone carefully, they didn’t seem to get along very well.

“Tobi, what the hell! Stop eating my food, un!” Deidara yelled. “You have your own plate, use it!”

“But Deidara-senpai, sharing is caring!” Tobi exclaimed.

“What kind of ninja are you, un?” Deidara asked in annoyance, slapping his hand away.

I looked over at Zetsu, whose face was half white half black, and he had a giant Venus fly trap around his head.

“We should have the yakiudon*,” the white side said. “Don’t be stupid, spaghetti is so much better,” the black side replied.

They continued arguing about what to eat, and I moved on. Kakuza was eating in silence, with his mask off, and let me just say, it was the creepiest thing I had ever seen. He had stitches right next to his mouth, giving him a creepy, zombie-doll kind of look. I averted my eyes, and moved onto Hidan, who was staring right at me. I narrowed my eyes. Not only had he beaten the shit out of me, but he had also killed – no, murdered – my mom.

I stood abruptly, and said, “I’m not hungry.”

“Kiriko, you can’t just not eat,” Kisame said.

“Watch me,” I said. “Death by starvation would be a hell of a lot better than Hidan beating me to death.”

The room was silent. “What?” Kisame growled.

“Hey, Pein wanted me to train her. So I trained her,” he said. “She learned something seeing that she isn’t dead.”

“Hidan, I swear, if any more harm comes to my daughter-” Kisame started.

“Don’t act like ‘Dad of the Year” all of a sudden,” I snapped, glaring at the blue fish-man. “Until Pein says otherwise, Hidan’s training me. End of story.” I didn’t want to hear anymore, so I spun on my feet and stormed out of the kitchen and to my bedroom.

When I got there, I looked at my empty closet.

“This blows major ass,” I muttered. “I don’t even have any clothes to change into.” I flopped onto my bed, noticing just now how sore I was, and proceeded to pass out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yakiudon is stir fried udon noodles, usually with vegetables and a meat of your choice.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own Kiriko, and annarobszombies owns Nikko. All other rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Enjoy!

# Chapter Five:

#### Nikko’s POV

Kiriko and I had been at the Akatsuki base for almost two weeks now. I rarely saw her except for briefly at dinner, and in our room, but she never said much. She always seemed so exhausted from training with Hidan.

As for me, on the other hand, Itachi had finally moved from meditating and doing his ninja-tree-hiding thing to teaching my how to actually use my chakra. By having me run up trees. Could this be any more boring?

Well, no, that’s a bit of lie. It wasn’t boring. It wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t boring. It was painful, though. I had been at this for at least an hour, and I had fallen on my butt every single time I attempted to run up the treee. I was pretty sure my tailbone was broken.

“Again,” Itachi said for the umpteenth time after I fell. Again.

“Seriously? My butt hurts! Can’t I stop?” I asked.

“Not until you reach the goal I set for you,” Itachi said.

He had marked a spot high up on the tree, way beyond what I thought was possible for me to reach. “But it’s impossible.”

“Nothing’s impossible… not if you try hard enough,” Itachi said. He walked over to me. “Here, put your hands together like this.” He showed me, once again, the tiger hand seal, just my hands clasped together with my pointer fingers pointed up together. “Now, focus. Focus the mental and physical energy you’ve been honing for the past couple of weeks. You can do this, Nikko. Focus.”

He stepped back, and I did as he said. I focused on the energy within me, focused on sending it towards my feet. I looked up at the tree, and ran for it, and it was going well. I put one foot in front of the other, and the ground grew smaller and smaller. Well, not that small, but it did gradually fall away from me. A great sense of joy passed through me as my foot passed over the line Itachi made for me. I made it! But a second later, I lost my focus, and I was falling.

This is going to hurt, I thought to myself.

Except the pain never came. I landed gently in Itachi’s arm.

“Good job,” he said, not smiling. “I told you could do it. That’s all for today, you can relax for the rest of the day.”

“Wait, that’s all? We’ve barely trained today,” I complained.

I thought I saw a smirk. Maybe. “The only goal I set for you today was to reach my mark on the tree, which you did. So you’re done. But feel free to train by yourself if you want.” With that said, he turned and left, leaving me alone outside.

I flopped down on the ground, stared at the sky. I wasn’t exactly exhausted, not from today, at least, but I had been training every day, and I could feel it taking its toll. I closed my eyes, enjoying the nice day. Until, that is, a shadow blacked out the sunlight that had been seeping through my eyelids. I squinted my eyes opened to see the blond Deidara above me.

“What are you doing, un?” He asked.

“I could ask you the same thing. You’re ruining my view,” I replied.

“What view, un? You had your eyes closed” he replied.

“Well, whatever, what do you want?” I asked.

“I was just wondering what you were doing out here alone, un,” he admitted.

“I finished training for the day and I had nothing better to do,” I replied with a shrug. I looked at him suspiciously. “Why do you care? You killed my entire family.”

“I, uh, I… yeah, I did,” he said, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I, uh, was just following orders. I’m sorry, un.”

I looked up at him, then closed my eyes. “Not good enough. Go away.”

I thought he left, his shadow had disappeared, at least, but then he said, “How would you like to spar against me, un?”

I sat up and blinked at him. “What?”

“Spar with me, un?” He asked again.

“…Why? So you can kick my ass?” I asked. “No thanks.”

“I’ll go easy on you, un” he said.

“Gee, that makes me feel better,” I muttered.

“Look, this training Itachi is doing with you is great and all, but you need to practice against other people, un” he said.

“Why?”

“Why? So you know how to read your opponent and learn to react to different fighting styles,” he replied. “It’s an important skill, un.”

I stood up, and said, “Fine.” Though I wasn’t sure why.

He blinked, and said, “Seriously? I didn’t think you’d actually do it, un.”

“If it gets you to stop pestering me, then I’ll do it, so let’s get started,” I said, taking a fighting stance. Honestly, though, I just wanted to kick his ass for what he did to my family.

He reciprocated, but I didn’t wait for a start. I lunged at him, and he dodged my punch, sending a round house kick at my side. I jumped out of the way just in time, but his right hook hit its mark on my stomach. I stumbled back, holding my gut. He didn’t hit me hard enough to knock the wind out of me, but it certainly hurt.

I glared, and charged again, but he side stepped, and in one swift movement, held one of my arms behind my back, and held a kunai to my throat.

“You’re too direct with your attacks, un,” he said.

“Of course I am, I’m trying to kick your ass! What else am I supposed to do?” I demanded.

“Part of being a ninja is strength and direct force, but direct force is only used when absolutely necessary, un,” he explained.

“What’s the other part?” I asked.

“Stealth, un,” he replied with a shrug.

Kind of like Itachi, I thought to myself. 

Deidara let go of me, and we sparred a couple more times, each time I worked on refining some aspect of my form. I stopped lunging immediately, and I started bouncing on my toes, to be able to move quicker.

After a couple hours, my stomach growled. I glanced up at the sky, noticing the sun was in the center. “Looks like lunch time,” I commented, mostly to myself.

“Yeah, un, let’s go,” he said. He headed off, but stopped when he noticed I wasn’t following him. “Aren’t you hungry, un?”

“Just because we sparred doesn’t make us friends,” I told him. “I still hate you with every fiber of my being.” I marched ahead of him, leaving him speechless behind me.

When I got into the kitchen, I made myself a sandwich, and sat at the table to eat.

“Nikko-chan!” I looked up in surprise to see the orange masked man – though he acted like a child – come bounding in.

“Tobi, hi,” I muttered, not quite in the mood for the eccentric ninja who couldn’t seem to detach himself from me.

“Can Tobi eat with Nikko-chan?” He asked.

I sighed, “Sure Tobi, you can eat with me. But I’m not making your food.”

“Tobi wouldn’t ask Nikko-chan to make his food, that would be rude,” Tobi said, happily skipping to the fridge to find some food.

I chuckled to myself as he sat down.

“How is Nikko-chan today?” Tobi asked, with a bowl of soup.

“I’m good,” I said. “How are you, Tobi?”

“Tobi is good, too,” he said. “Is Nikko-chan training hard?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of exhausting,” I admitted. “I don’t really feel like I’m getting any better.”

“Nikko-chan can do it! Tobi believes in her!”

“Thanks, Tobi, the vote of confidences helps,” I said, staring down at my sandwich.

“Is Nikko-chan okay?” Tobi asked. “She seems down.”

“I’m fine, Tobi,” I said. “It’s just… I miss my family, I miss my home.”

“But Nikko-chan is home,” Tobi said. “This is Nikko-chan’s home now.”

“This isn’t home, Tobi, no one except you and Itachi like me,” I said. “I miss my parents, and my brother.”

“But they weren’t your real parents or brother, were they?” Tobi asked.

“Well, I wasn’t related to them by blood, but that doesn’t make them any less my family,” I told him.

“Then you can find a new family,” Tobi said, sounding really serious. But that moment disappeared a moment later when he said, “Tobi knows you will! After all, Nikko-chan has only been here for a couple of weeks. Anything can happen if she lets it.” With that said, and Tobi’s food somehow gone, even though he hadn’t taken his mask off, Tobi skipped off.

“That was… weird,” I muttered. I finished my sandwich and washed my plate, as well as Tobi’s bowl, since he didn’t wash it before he skipped out.

I headed back to my room, and ran into Itachi, Kisame, and Kiriko on my way.

“There you are, Nikko,” Itachi said. “We’re going shopping, you two need clothes.”

“It’s about time, I’ve been wearing the same damn outfit for two fucking weeks,” Kiriko grumbled.

“I think Hidan is rubbing off on you,” I said. “You’re swearing a lot more.”

“Who fucking asked you?” She grumbled.

“Settle down, girls,” Kisame said. “Let’s go.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own Kiriko and my friend annarobszombies owns Nikko. All other rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

# Chapter Six

#### Kiriko’s POV

We arrived at the shop later that day. Along with Nikko, Kisame, and Itachi, Kakuzu came along with us, since he was in charge of the money of the organization.

I was the first one in the store, and I didn’t miss the cute, young man behind the counter. I immediately knew what I wanted, and how to get it for free.

Mom and I didn’t have a lot of money, and from a young age, I would steal food from markets. I got caught quite a lot, actually, but as I got older, I got better, and smarter. Then I hit puberty. My naturally blue hair from my dad, and pale skin from my mom made me not only beautiful, but unique. I quickly learned how to flirt to get free things, and though I hated it, sometimes it was the only way to help mom keep food on the table. And, you know, the occasional treat for myself.

I made my way to a rack of clothes and quickly found what I wanted.

Kakuzu was behind me in an instant. “That’s too expensive.”

“Then don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’ll pay for it.”

“Yeah? With what money?” He asked.

“I don’t need money,” I said, and I headed into the changing room to let him muse about what I meant.

I had picked out a black shirt that covered from the base of my neck to the bottom of my chest, and sleeves that flared out over my shoulders. I also had white shorts, and a black “skirt” that was open in the front and back, but covered the sides. I slipped on a pair of black ninja sandals, and I checked myself out in the mirror. Not only did I look hot, but I could totally get this for free. The guy behind the counter would melt.

I walked out to find everyone waiting for me. “What do you think?”

“Is that really the best choice?” Kisame asked, looking uncomfortable.

“It looks kinda slutty,” Nikko said. “No offense, or anything.”

“Who asked you?” I grumbled.

“Uh, you did,” Nikko said. “Now, can I use the changing room? It’s the only one here.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, and stepped aside.

Glancing at the counter, I noticed the man was too focused on reading his book then the rest of the store, so I roamed around a little. I found a pair of black shorts and black pants I liked, as well a few black tank tops. Kakuzu was the only one to notice me slip them in my empty bag. I gave him a look and raised my eyebrow, daring him to do something about it. He just shrugged and looked away.

I shouldered my bag, fixed my hair, and sauntered up to the counter.

“Hi, can I-” the guy stopped when he looked up, frozen by what he saw, I assumed. “Uh, c-can I uh, help you?”

“I was wondering if I would be able to wear this out of the store?” I asked, running a hand through my hair.

“Y-yeah, of course,” he said.

“Oh, great!” I smiled, tilting my head. “How much is it?”

“Um,” he quickly added up the total. “One hundred and twenty dollars*.”

I nodded, and began to rummage through my bag, keeping it out of his sight. “Aw, shoot, you’re gonna think I’m so ditzy, but…” I placed my elbow on the counter, leaning against it. “It seems I left my coin purse at home.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry, if you can’t pay, th-then you can’t get it.”

“What a pity,” I said, standing slightly away from the counter to show off the outfit I was wearing. “I really liked this outfit. I guess I’ll just have to go change.” I started to walk away, back to the group, everyone watching me, except for Nikko, who was still changing.

“W-wait!” The guy called, and smiled, knowing I had won. I turned around and gave him a quizzical, innocent look. “I, uh, I think I see a few tears in the shirt and skirt. I can, uh, mark them as damaged…”

I walked back over to the counter, leaning forward to give him a nice view of my cleavage. “Oh, really, that’s great!”

He made a few notes on a notepad and looked up with a smile. “You’re all set.”

“Thank you so much,” I said, giving him a smile before turning and sauntering back to the group. “And that is how it’s done.”

“That was… impressive,” Kakuzu said, a look of almost respect on his face.

“Of course it was impressive, it was me,” I said.

Just then, Nikko came out of the changing room, wearing a black mid-drift shirt, dark blue shorts, black gloves, black, knee high socks, and ninja sandals.

“It looks good,” Itachi said. “Not too revealing, and practical.”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “Okay, next outfit.”

She came out of the changing room moments later wearing a sleeveless, pink zip-up shirt, grey Capris, and black heeled ninja sandals.

Itachi nodded in approval, and she went back into the changing room again to try on another outfit.

This time she came out wearing a pink dress that had a blue neckline and belt, along with blue flame patterns at the bottom and at the end of the sleeves, and she had the same black, heeled ninja sandals.

“As much as I hate to say it, that does look pretty good,” I said, crossing my arms, and looking away.

“Is that everything?” Kakuzu asked, sounding annoyed.

“Yeah, that’s everything,” Nikko said.

Kakuzu took the clothes up to the front counter with Nikko still wearing the dress. Along with all the items being on clearance, Kakuzu was able to… talk the price down a bit. By talk, I mean he scared the shit out of the poor boy.

On our way back, I was walking behind the group, and Nikko found her way back to me. “Don’t you feel bad about what you did?”

“What do you mean? What would I feel bad about?” I asked.

“Well, you cheated that guy out of a ton of money, don’t you feel bad about that?” she asked.

“Well, no, I can’t afford to feel bad,” I said. “When I was growing up with just my mom, I had to do a lot of stuff to help us get by.”

“Wait, like, what did you do?” She asked. “Did you have to… sleep with anyone?”

“Ew! No!” I cried out. “And even if I did, that wouldn’t be any of your business!” I stormed up to walk next to the only person I could stand and the only person who could possibly scare Nikko off: Kakuzu.

Nikko, Itachi, and Kisame were the first people in the hideout, and Tobi was the first to notice.

“Nikko-chan looks so cute!” Tobi exclaimed, running and hugging her.

“Uh, thanks, Tobi,” she said.

“Tobi, stop shouting, un,” Deidara said. “Oh, you guys are back. Nikko, you look… wow.”

“God, why are you getting all the attention?” I snapped

“Because everyone thinks I’m cute?” Nikko supplied with a shrug.

“Don’t be so conceited,” I snapped.

“You’re the one looking for attention,” she replied.

“You know what, fuck off,” I said.

“Kiriko, language,” Kisame said.

“I’m gonna go train,” I said, storming off.

I considered looking for Hidan, but I was too pissed off to bother. Instead, I just went straight to the training room. While it would have been nice to hit something that could actually feel my punch, I mostly wanted to be left alone.

If I was being honest, I was angry at the situation in general, but I never did well with dealing with my anger, and if there wasn’t a specific person to blame, I picked one. I spent most of my life blaming my father for everything, which wasn’t much of a problem considering I never planned on seeing him. 

Except that I did, and now I didn’t know what to do. So I took out my frustration by giving him an attitude. And Nikko just happened to be an easy target for me, so I picked on her, too. She was nice enough, not that I would ever say that out loud.

I spent nearly an hour just hitting and yelling at the punching bag, but I finally started to calm down a bit, so I moved on to the pull-up bar. I jumped up, getting a good grip on it, and swung my legs up. Once I was sure my legs had a good grip, I let my body swing down, and then, using the core muscles I had been building, starting doing sit-ups.

I had done almost one hundred when I heard the door open. As I lowered myself, I came face to face with Hidan.

“I like the new outfit.”

“No one asked you.” I lifted myself up for sit-up ninety nine, and lowered myself down. “What are you doing here?” I raised myself up before he could answer, grabbed the pull-up, and got down.

“Well, I am supposed to be training you. So let’s train.”

I took a ready stance, and said, “Better be careful, I’m in a pretty shitty mood. I might hurt you.”

He smirked. “I’d like to see you try.”

I had been training with Hidan for a few weeks now. While I still hated him for what he did to my mom, I had gained a little bit of respect for him as a shinobi. A very little bit. I had also learned how to be patient from him, ironically. Normally, I would wait for him to attack and then counter him, but I wasn’t thinking straight at the moment. He had barely made a fighting stance when I lunged at him, sending a kick at his side. He stumbled, and I took that opportunity to kick his other side, and then his stomach. In one swift movement, I grabbed his arm, one hand on top, the other underneath his arm. Just as I got ready to throw him to the ground, He grabbed my arm, twisting it until I was sure it would break, and throwing me to the ground.

“Not bad, but you still have a lot to learn,” he said down to me. “Bitch.”

I glared up at him. “It would help if you, oh, I don’t know, actually taught me instead of just using me as your personal punching bag.”

“Hey, you’re learning, aren’t you?” He held his hand out to help me up. I ignored it and pushed myself to my feet.

“I’m certainly learning how to get back up and take care of my bruises,” I shot back at him. “What I’m not learning is how to be a ninja. I’m not learning how to use chakra, or perform jutsu. Hell, Nikko said she was going to learn her chakra type today. I don’t even know what the hell that means!”

“Calm the fuck down.”

“I will not! Teach me or—or—”

“Or what? Did you wanna take this up with Pein?” Hidan asked.

I felt the blood drain from my face, and I hoped he didn’t notice, but from the smirk on his face, I was pretty sure he had. With no other option left, I took a fighting stance. “Let’s go again.”

“Your funeral, bitch,” Hidan said, mimicking my stance.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing,” I said with a grin. “Bitch.” I lunged at him again. Moving faster than I could see, he grabbed my arm, twisting me around and forcing it behind my back. I struggled to break free, but he just twisted it harder, causing me to cry out in pain.

“You’re usually a little more focused than this,” he said.

“What can I say, I’m in a bad mood.” Even with the pain shooting through my arm, I struggled to break free. He let go, and I stumbled forward.

“If you wanna learn jutsu, you and your daddy are gonna have to kiss and make up,” Hidan said. “Figuratively speaking. Even I’m not that fucked up.”

“Pein told you to train me,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere near Kisame.”

“What’s your beef with him anyways?”

“You mean besides him being a no-show dad? None of your damn business.”

“Whatever, not like I care anyways,” Hidan said with a shrug. “But chakra isn’t really my strong point. I would teach you if I could, but as it stands, I don’t know jack shit about it except that it combines spiritual and physical energy.”

“Thanks, knew that already,” I mumbled. “I’m gonna go get some food.” I didn’t wait for his response, I just turned and left.

I entered the empty kitchen and began the process of cleaning rice. I wasn’t actually hungry, I just didn’t feel like talking about Kisame, especially with Hidan.

“Whatcha making, kiddo?”

“Ugh, go away,” I grumbled.

Kisame sighed, and I heard him sit down at the table. I scrubbed my rice harder.

“What’s it gonna take, Kiriko?”

“For you to go away? It usually helps to be standing.” The rice was clean, but I needed something to do with my hands so I wouldn’t start hitting him, so I kept rinsing it.

“To fix this. Our relationship. What do I need to do?”

I slammed the rice pot on the counter, hard than I meant to. “You can’t do anything,” I growled. “You can’t let me leave, and certainly can’t bring my mother back. The only thing you can do is leave me the hell alone!”

“Kiriko, please, I want to make things right,” he said.

“Like hell you do!” I spun around, glaring at him. “If you ever loved me, if you ever loved mom, you wouldn’t have left!”

“I’m many things, a criminal, a shit dad, but don’t you ever accuse me of being unfaithful. I loved your mother. That’s why I left.”

That caught me off guard, and I faltered for a second, but I couldn’t let it fool me. “That’s not good enough. You could have still been there, kept in contact with us. If you really loved her. I don’t even care if you left because of me! I don’t care if you hate me! But you leaving, it took its toll on mom. I don’t remember much about when you were there, but I do remember how happy she was. Running from Kirigakure and the Water country, from her home, it destroyed her. She was constantly afraid. I had to be the man of the house, so to speak. Her daughter had to make sure she was safe, because you weren’t there. So don’t tell me you still loved her. Those weren’t the actions of a man that loved his… what even was she to you? It’s not like you got married.”

He slammed his fist on the table, standing up. He might have only been a few inches taller than me, but the anger and frustration radiating off him made it feel like he was towering over me. “She was the love of my life. You were just a child. You still are—”

“I’m eighteen! I’m not a fucking child!”

“Don’t use that language in front of me, and don’t interrupt me!” He shouted, shutting me up more from shock than anything. “I loved your mother. I joined the Seven Swordsman of the Mist thinking it would keep our village, our country, safe. I thought it was the best way to keep Hana safe. It became especially important to me when you were born. But when the Mizukage decided a change in character for the village was in order, he not only disbanded the organization, he gave us all a death sentence. Of course, when we found out, we all fled, but I was the only one with a family that I cared about. I snuck back one night, and helped you and Hana escape. I knew Kirigakure would find me one day, I knew it was out of the question to stay with or anywhere near you two. The only way to keep you safe from the hunters of Kiri was to lead them as far away as possible and join the Akatsuki. You were five, I didn’t expect you to understand. Hell, I never expected you to understand because, frankly, I never expected to see you again. But now that you’re here, maybe you can get off your high horse and understand that there’s more to this than you thought.”

I glared at him in silence, fists balled to keep my hands from shaking. A whole storm of emotions were raging in my head. Anger at my father, sadness at the loss of my mother, more anger because even though what he was saying made sense, it was still his fault, fear of what could happen if I accepted what he was saying, a small glimmer of hope that _maybe_ I could have a family if I built a relationship with him, but that was quickly snuffed out by more anger because it was still _all his fault_ , fear because I couldn’t keep holding onto that anger no matter how hard I tried, and a hell of a lot of confusion.

With what anger I was still holding onto, I said the mantra that I was repeating in my head out loud, as if that would keep everything the same. “It’s still your fault. I’ll never forgive you.”

I didn’t miss the look of hurt, and possibly disappointment, on his face as I stormed out of the kitchen and back to my room, my pot of uncooked rice forgotten.

I slammed the door shut behind me and flung myself onto the bed. When I was six years old, I decided I wouldn’t cry anymore. I would do what needed to be done in order to keep my family – my mother – safe. And for the first time in twelve years, I cried. I cried for the shattered life I thought I knew, I cried for my mother, and, though I wouldn’t easily admit it, I cried for myself.

**Author's Note:**

> *Onigiri is a rice ball (usually a rice triangle, actually) that can either have no filling, or can be filled with tuna, chicken, roe (fish eggs), nori (seaweed), or just about anything you’d like. Usually it’s wrapped in nori, to make it easier to hold (as the rice is sticky in order for it to stay together), but I’ve seen plenty that don’t have a nori wrapping. While I’m pretty sure most people reading this probably know what onigiri is (as it’s a pretty well-known dish) I figured it would be best to explain it, just in case.


End file.
